A chain over sea and time: Yosef Livne looks at Anzac and Zionist enterprise in two great conflicts.

AuthorLivne, Yosef

2015 is not just another new year. In different parts of the globe, the coming year will also usher in memories of highly significant events in the history of many nations and peoples. One such event is the centennial commemoration of the battle in Gallipoli. That battle was certainly a life-changing chapter in the lives of Australians and New Zealanders, as well as others. Besides this event 2015 will also see the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

For us Israelis, these events cannot go unnoticed. Any which way we may look at them, both world wars are intertwined with the story of our rebirth as a sovereign state. Whereas the memory of the Holocaust is well known, relatively little is known of the Zionist involvement in the different facets of the First World War. As the centenary is now upon us, I thought it appropriate to shed some light on the role played by our founding fathers back in the time of the Great War as well as some of the encounters between our two peoples in the Second World War.

The Zion Mule Corps was established in Alexandria, Egypt in April 1915. Its founders were two young Zionist activists, Zeev Jabotinsky, who always dreamt of forming a Jewish unit that would join the Allies and would advance the cause of Jewish statehood, and Joseph Trumpeldor, a heroic figure in the Russian Army. Even though the idea of forming a fighting unit did not prosper, a transport regiment, based on mules, was formed and was sworn on 1 April as the Zion Mule Corps. Lieutenant-Colonel John H. Patterson, a pro-Zionist officer was appointed as its commanding officer and Trumpeldor was appointed as adjutant with the rank of captain. The regiment was shipped to Gallipoli on the 16 April. Half landed in the southern part of the peninsula and the other half was attached to the ANZAC troops on the western side. That must have...

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